The list
by IAmACoolLoser
Summary: Reggie and Alexandra are the best of friends and the only people they have is each other. They make a list to stay away from being one of the nerds... Something happens that will change their lives...


**January 23, 2008**

Boredom is complicated, not as complicated as 2 times 2 squared to the negative 3rd power but let me tell you, it could be pretty dang close. Boredom makes you find out things that you shouldn't even think about finding out, for example, it takes 45 steps to get to my bedroom from the bathroom, not even that because I had my toes touching my heels and most people don't walk like that( remind me to add that to my list).

_Number 10: Walk with your toes touching your heels at the next public place you go. Don't forget to count the amount of weird looks you get. Let's go for...15._

Hmmm...Maybe I can actually get this one done within the next week. That is if I'm in the mood to go to a public place, which is rare, I don't get out much. Even if I do, I don't enjoy it very either. At least I am not the only one who feels like this. There is one other, his name is Reggie. I don't know what I would do without him. I guess you could call us nerds. We don't consider ourselves the nerds though, in our world, we are the normal people. Our school is full of nerds that care about what people think, they listen to what magazines and air-headed, fake celebrities say. They don't understand the meaning of anything unless it has to do with A) hot guys or B) hot girls. Reggie and I _do_ listen to what magazines say, our magazine makes sense though, even the title of it sounds...informational...Worldwide News Magazine. Sound's interesting eh?

That reminds me I should call up Reggie and see if he found out about the First Image of an Approaching Asteroid. We need to compare lists, it has been awhile. We have lists of 10 things we have to do within the next month. It helps us stay away from becoming one of the nerds. I don't know why I started writing in my list journal, I should tell Reggie to try it sometime. It's kind of refreshing, I almost feel like I have another friend to talk to. Let's make a number 11.

_Number 11: Write in this journal and record what has happened to you that day or just what you are thinking about, the nerds don't do this kind of thing, at least I hope not. X:Number 11 Irreplacable:X_

There Number 11 is official. Now it's time to call Reggie.

Ring..._1_

Ring. ..._2_

Ring..._3...smile_

"Hola Amigos!"

"Mui Buen." I could hear Reggie smiling on the other line. I wonder if he could hear mine. That was number two about a year ago, smiling every time you answer or talk on the phone, now it's a habit for me. I think it is for Reggie too, at least every time I call him he talks with a smile.

"Hello? Anybody home?"

"Oh shoot, sorry Reggie, I was just reminiscing on Number 2"

"When you answer or talk on the phone always do it with a smile," we both replied in unison.

"Yeap, that's the one I was thinking of."

"It's one of my favorites along with number 5 from last month. Remember that one?"

"Pshhh...duhh...How could I forget we set one of our personal records, Wasn't it 24 weird looks plus a bonus because we got one from one of our hometown nerds too. I don't think people see people walking around with 20 bananas in the mall very often."

"Or leave a trail of bananas along the way..."

"Then pick one up, sit down in the middle of the floor and eat it."

I laughed. He laughed. We both sighed at the same time which led to more laughter. I love laughing.

"I think I tasted bananas for the next week after we ate them all too." Reggie tried to say it while laughing at the same time.

"Same here. Bananas are the best though so it wasn't that bad." I sighed. "Hey did you hear about the First Image of.."

"of an Approaching Asteroid.." Reggie interrupted me.

"Dang, I thought I finally freaking got you." I snapped my fingers in defeat.

"And, of course, you didn't. You should be getting use to it by now." _He smiled a little too much on that one I thought._

"More like it's something you need to cherish because one of these days I **am** going to get you."

"Mhmmm, okay, I'll let you think that, for a little while." he said playfully.

I had to admit, he was probably right.

I looked out my window. I saw what I saw every time I looked out my window. A few cars drive by with someone inside, probably pointing and laughing at my house knowing that I live here. I know I said that I'm not a nerd but I am human, I have to admit that I wonder why people think because Reggie and I aren't like them, (maybe a little better, but I don't want to sound self-centered), they have to treat us differently. When they scream out to the class,"Party at my house on Saturday! Everyone's invited" why can't they mean us too? We are apart of their class you know? Oh well, their parties probably suck anyways. Reggie and I actually have fun. I looked down at my lime green and yellow window seat and saw my ex-list-journal-now-just-plain-journal staring back at me.

"Hey Reggie, I added a number 10 and 11."

"Eleven? Since when do we have eleven?!" He sounded like I broke a promise.

"Calm down and listen, it's irreplaceable by the way, I wrote, Number 11: Write in this journal and record what has happened to you that day or just what you are thinking about."

I left out the other stuff I wrote, it is my personal journal, he doesn't have to know _everything_.

"I did and it felt really good, like another friend to talk to when we aren't talking to each other." I told him.

"I like it, it sounds good."

I knew he would like it.

"I know!" I said.

"So want to hear number 10? Of course you do! Number 10: Walk with your toes touching your heels at the next public place you go. Don't forget to count the amount of weird looks you get. Let's go for...15" I read it to him.

"I say we go for 20." he sounded excited.

I agreed and changed it to 20.

"How did we come across this one?" he asked.

"I wrote in my journal about another one of my boredom adventures. I found out it was 45 steps from my bedroom to the bathroom and I just thought of this one. See writing in your journal is good for the list too!"

"Oh, I see, I see. Are you excited to go see the nerds tomorrow? I know they are jumping for joy to see us!"

I laughed, "Oh yes, tomorrow I will just see the anticipation left in their eyes from the night before. I bet they even dreamed about us."

"Speaking of dreaming, I need to go count a few sheep. Good night Reg!"

"Night Alexandra!"

"Jerk!" I replied.

"Oh you know, you love it when I call you Alexandra instead of..._Alex." _

He said Alex like it was a piece of dirt. I never understood why he didn't like the name Alex.

_Click._ He hung up, that little retardo.

I can check Number 1 off now. I wonder what will replace it.

_Number 1: Welcome the word retardo to your vocabulary._

_--_

January 30, 2008

I called Reggie and told him about the new one's I came up with. At first he wasn't sure about the whole Number 11 thing, after I explained it to him he seemed excited, keyword "seemed". Reggie is really good at hiding his feelings, unless of course we are face to face, then he is more of an open book that shows you every tare even if it is the size of my pointer fingers nail. I've been a dedicated nail-biter-addict since the day I noticed I had nails too. It drives me insane when I do it but not until I'm done do I slap myself mentally for doing it. I should learn to slap myself harder. I would add it to the list but...ummmm...Reggie doesn't bite his nails and we do our list together and together only.

Yeah, that's a good excuse.

On another note, my dad has this new candle obsession. It all started when I got back from hanging out with Reggie. My dad cuts down trees and makes lamps, tables, chairs, coat racks and those kind of things. He made a table as one of his projects and it was messed up so he took it back to his workshop and we use this little round table now. He put a tablecloth on it and a candle in this round jar with rocks on the bottom. It's very...pretty...I'm not use to my dad decorating elegantly. Hey, I don't think I mentioned I had a brother. Well, I do, and he is the 10 year old monster hiding under my bed. Sometimes I could shoot him in the head but otherwise he is pretty cool for a younger brother. Wow, I can't stay on topic in my journal if my life depended on it. Anyways, my dad, brother and I were all getting ready to eat dinner and he lit the candle in the middle of the table. We all sat down and my dad said "We are having a candle light dinner." I was trying not to laugh my head off right there in front of him because Number 1: I was chewing an amazing piece of sausage and I don't think my brother wanted it all over his plate, Number 2: That would be rude and my dad scares the heck out of me. I never imagined my first candlelight dinner with my dad and little brother. When I got to my room I finally laughed until I cried. Yes, I know, I laugh easily but trust me it was hilarious. Crap, I have to go to bed now, I have to go to school tomorrow. I will finish telling you about my dad's candle obsession in tomorrow's entry.

--

I lied, I can't fall asleep so I think I will finish it now. Where was I at? Oh yes, Well anyway, I wake up the next morning and my brother is in the bathroom so I go upstairs to my dads room because he has another toilet there. Next to the toilet there is a bathtub, a really NICE bathtub. I wanted this room but my dad wouldn't let me have it. Around the bathtub is something that you don't picture a grown, un-dating single man to have by his bathtub, candles. A smile flickered across my face. That is when I realized my dad is having a candle obsession, I couldn't help but laugh. I take my first step out of that room my feelings of frustration towards my dad come back, I love this room so much. I can't tell you how much I wanted this room.

The good thing is my dad can't claim this house's roof. The roof is my favorite place to be in this whole entire world. It's so pretty and you feel like time has stopped the moment you take a step off the ladder and there is nothing wrong in yours or anyone's life. When you look towards the interstate it looks like the vehicles are barely moving while putting on a light show just for you. I've seen three out of seven of my shooting stars up there. The last one I saw was amazing. I won't ever forget and if I ever do I know I will see it when my life flashes before my eyes. I don't know how to explain this shooting star. It was like with every star it passed it was picking up the stars light with it. It was the one you pictured in your head when you were a little girl. If you have ever seen a shooting star you would know that you have to be staring at the sky very intently and you have to question yourself before you realize you actually saw something. Not with this one, not one tiny bit, you know what you saw and you feel like time slowed down _even more _so the shooting star could say look at me! It had a right to say this too, it made me feel so small. I felt like I was going to be one of those stars that it would pick up as it was zooming across the sky. I'm not much of a star though so I probably wouldn't help. The only light I had was the cell phone in my pocket.

--

"WHEN YOUR BROKEN IN A MILLION LITTLE PIECES…!" I sang with all my heart into my wonderful microphonic hairbrush. Yes, microphonic is a word of my making. How does it sound? I personally love it and think it belongs in any dictionary on every shelf.

"AND YOUR TRYING BUT YOU CAN'T HOLD ON ANYMORE EVERY TEA...! The ringing of the phone interrupted my practice audition for American Idol.

"Dang it" I muttered under my breath. My favorite part is coming up.

It was Reggie, "Hello hon. um…how are you? I know this might be weird hearing my voice coming out of Reggie's phone but um...I was wondering when Reggie is getting back from your house tonight? I need to tell him some news."

I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turn around to see Reggie with his finger over his mouth, sign-language the fact that if I told his mom that he just got here he would stab me with a knife, shoot me in the head and then throw me in a river.

"Umm…I am doing good. I don't know when Reggie is getting back um…hang on a second let me ask him. I think he might be getting a drink downstairs."

"REEEEGIE!" I screamed in his ear.

"OW! YOU..."

I shushed him and pointed at the phone trying to hold my laugh.

"Shoot." He whispered.

"Let me talk to her jerk."

"Love you too and here she is!" I smiled.

"Hi Mom. Um okay? Why can't you just tell me now? Geez, I'm sorry. Will 7 work for you Alexandra?"

"Yes" I grunted.Alexandra...I swear my parents thought I was an ugly baby or something, I _have_ seen my baby pictures and I have to admit I was NOT ugly.

"Okay…mhmmm...Love you too mom. Bye!"

"So, I think Simon Cowell would call that performance a "bedroom audition." It would also look horrible if you answered the phone during it, so unprofessional, you need a little more practice."

"How long where you listening to me?"

"From the WHEN YOUR BROKEN IN A MILLION LITTLE PIECES AND YOUR TRYING BUT YOU CAN'T HOLD ON ANYMORE to the _dang it!" _He belted a horrible impression of me ending his big finish with spirit fingers.

"You are so immature."

"You know you love it." He said mischievously.

"Eh, at least you aren't boring."

"Exactly."

"What did your mom want anyways?"

"She said I needed to be home kind of early because she needed to tell me something."

"That's odd, I wonder what it is."

"Me too."

There was a silence floating with curiosity. What did Reggie's mom want?

--

**I slide the key in the lock of our light blue door as the porch light puts a spotlight on me. It reminds me of the All-School Play's auditions coming up. It's one of the biggest highlights of every year. Alexandra and I always try out, and so far, we have always made it. The door squeaks loudly when it opens, and I rush inside and shut it as quietly as possible just in case my mom was taking a nap. She's been doing that more lately. **

**I put my key in my pocket and turn around to look out to the living room where my mom is resting peacefully on the couch. She had the latest Tivo of Gilmore girls playing in the background. Alexandra had gotten her addicted to it. I don't like to admit it, but some parts of it are really funny. Of course, I would never tell that to anyone, especially Alexandra or my mom. They would never let me forget it. **

**Excitement starts flowing through my body when I remember that we are going to do Number 10 this Saturday, and my mom is going to tell me something new. I hope it's good news. I walk over to the couch and wake up my mom. She opens her eyes and looks up at me. ******

**"Reggie? What time is it?" she closes her eyes again. ******

**"7:30, I know I'm late sorry."******

**"It's okay as long as you were at Alex's house." She still has her eyes closed. ******

**"Of course, where else would I go?"******

**"I don't know but anyway, you're probably dying to hear the news right?" She sits up, sighing loudly. ******

**"HECK YEAH, and Alexandra is waiting by the phone at her house. She's as excited as I am!" ******

**"Oh..um...well..." I notice my mom's eyes start watering and a tear slowly slide down her cheek. ******

**My heart starts beating faster. I don't really want to know, do I? A million possibilities started galloping through my brain. ******

**"Reggie...I don't know how to tell you this. I don't know how to tell anyone this." She rubbed the bridge of her nose to try to stop the tears. "Before I tell you, I want you to know that I will stay strong through it all, and that everything in life happens for a reason. I need you and Alexandra to be strong for me, okay?" Her voice was choking up, and she could hardly get her words out.******

**"Mom...What is going on?" I was surprised at how hoarse my voice sounded. I sit down beside her and put my arm around her shoulder to try and comfort her.******

**"Just promise okay?" She sniffled a little and wiped away her tears, turning to look me in the eyes.******

**"I will try as hard as I can, and I know Alexandra will too." ******

**"Thank you..."******

**"Mom, tell me." ******

**She still didn't say anything.******

**"Come on mom! Tell me now!" I jump up off the couch and pull away from her. She was starting to scare me. ******

**"Reggie we are moving, to California because I have...I have..." She whispers softly, "Cancer."******

**"What...?" My voice cracks. ******

_**Moving to California. Cancer**_**.******

**The words bounced around in my head, slid down to my heart and broke it in two. ******

**The two worst things that could have possibly happened to me have just happened. Just like that. Five minutes ago, I was dreaming of the All-School play and having fun with my best friend on Saturday. Now all I could think of is the fact that my mom is dying, and I am moving away from my best friend. ******

**She needs me.******

**I need her. ******

**We need each other.******

**My body starts to tremble and I drop to my knees and cover my face with my hands.****  
**

**  
**_**"Just promise okay?" **_**I remember the words my mom said. I said I would try my hardest. How could I try my hardest? I look up and see the fear in her eyes. Usually they are filled with happiness and excitement, and I would do anything to get that back. I would give **_**anything. **__****_

__**I searched her eyes for any sign of what used to be. All I could see was fear, and beyond that, a whole lot of strength. It reminded me that she is still here, and I am still here in my small hometown, five blocks away from my best friend. I stood up walked over to my mom and hugged her. I had to be strong for her, at least for now. Alexandra will let me vent, she is always there for me. I can hold back until then. ******

**'Till then all I could do was whisper four words with all of my heart.******

**"I love you, mom." ******

**She tightened her arms around me, and I never wanted to let go.**

**--**

Reggie's P.O.V

I am lying still in my bed just staring at my ceiling. The alarm clock seems to be mocking me with every tick and tock it makes. It seems to be trying to remind me of the terrible news I have just heard. I am still in shock. I don't know how I'll ever get over this. How could anyone get over news like this? That's just it, they can't. No one can. They probably just walk around with a fake smile, and laugh a hollow little laugh. Is that how I am going to be for the rest of my life? No. I promised my mom I wouldn't. Let me tell you, this is going to be the hardest thing that I will ever do in my entire life. Life will never be as bad as it is now.

Tick  
Tock  
Tick  
Tock...  
**A tear falls down my cheek and I dash it away with the back of my hand. I can't start crying, not with my mom in the next room. I tip-toe out of my room and look in at my mother. She looks asleep, but she doesn't look peaceful. She is tossing and turning. I still have to try. She will understand, but I just hope she doesn't find out.  
I have to be strong for her.**

I leave her a note on her bedside table before slipping on my shoes and throwing on a jacket. I walk quietly out the door and close it behind me. The door squeaks loudly as I pull it shut. I hold my breath, hoping that my mother wouldn't wake up. She can't know that I just have to let it out. I don't hear anything from inside the house, so I lock that door and start walking towards Alexandra's house. My throat is straining to keep the sobs down.

I see it.  
It's her house.  
I start running as fast as I can. I get the key out from under the rug and unlock the door. I don't bother being quiet. I'm not worried about waking anyone up. Her mom is a hard sleeper.  


**Alexandra isn't, though.  
I stand in front of the door and hear her footsteps coming down the stairs.  
Finally.  
"Reggie? Is that you?"**

I couldn't talk, the tears were blocking my throat.  
I whisper "Alexandra" and watch her run over to stand in front of me.  
She looks me in the eyes and she sees my tears.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

She hugs me and I start crying. I can't remember the last time that I cried this hard.

"Shhhh...It's going to be okay." She whispers toward the door. It hits the door and doesn't come back to my ear, brain, or heart.

All I know is that I can cry on her shoulder without explaining anything, even if I can't stop for the whole night.

I realize that she won't be in California with me, though. She won't be there with me. That just makes me cry even harder.

**--**

**I heard the door slam, and I crept cautiously down the stairs. Maybe I hadn't heard my mom leave and she had just come back or something like that. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I've watched a few too many movies with the bad-guy-coming-into-house-and-killing-someone-in their sleep, so I was a little worried. Once I finally get down the stairs, I see a figure of a person sitting in front of the door. Their hands are covering their face, and it almost looks like the person is holding their breath as if they fear that if they let it out something bad will come with it. As I start to move closer, everything comes into focus. It's Reggie.******

**"Reggie? Is that you?"******

** What is he doing here? Wait, why is he holding his breath? He looks up and whispers something. It sounds like my name. I slide down to my knees and look in his eyes to see hints of tears waiting to come out. Something is wrong, really wrong.******

**"What happened? Are you okay?"******

**I hug him and he starts sobbing in my arms as if he had been holding in the tears for a year.******

**"Shhh...It's going to be okay." I try to sound confident, but I don't even know if those words are true. ******

**Every tear that falls from his eyes makes me more curious and afraid to know what is going on. I know I have to wait until Reggie is ready to tell me. I just hope it won't take it too long. ******

**I sit here with a hundred possibilities running through my mind while I comfort him as much as I **

**possibly can. I wish I could do more. I wish I could take the pain away completely, but that is not going to happen. After about ten minutes go by, his grip on my starts to weaken, and his arms that were wrapped around my shoulders slide off and swing back to his side. He sits back from his leaning position and looks me in the eyes. Was he ready to tell me? I didn't think so. After a long awkward silence passes by I hear something that seems far away and weird to hear after such a long silence.******

**"Can we go sit on the roof?" Reggie has to clear his throat a few times to even get a sound out. ******

**"Of course. It seems like you need it."******

**"You need it too."******

**What did he mean by that? I grab the ladder, set it up, and I start to climb up. I was getting good at climbing this ladder… maybe too good.******

**I watch Reggie climb up with the same ease. He loves the roof just as much as I do. It's kind of like our place. One day I found him sitting up here when I didn't even know that he had come to my house. He scared the crap out of me that time, too. I smiled, just thinking of that******

**"Remember the time that you had just gotten back from vacation? You came up here and scared the crap out of me by putting that spider on the end of string in front of the door while I was walking in?" ******

**I saw a little flash of a smile in his eyes, but that was quickly replaced by the sadness and fear that had been there since he arrived.**

"**Reggie, what's wrong? Tell me."******

**"Alexandra...My mom she..." ******

**I move closer. So this is what the news from his mom was. It wasn't good. I sent up a silent prayer to God to help me stay strong. Reggie needed me. ******

**"She… has cancer and we... have to move to California."******

**Everything stopped then and there. Time stopped moving, my heart stopped beating… I stopped breathing. I go back over what he said. His mom had cancer… and something about moving.******

**Cancer, and moving. No! This can't be happening. Not to me, not to his mom, and not to him. We haven't done anything to deserve this. ******

**Reggie moves closer and wraps his arms around me. I start crying. I thought I could be strong, but I can't. Not with news like this. I look up at Reggie and see the strength in his eyes. I try to stop crying but I just can't.******

**He just strokes my hair, silently letting me know that he is here.******

**"Where...where to?" I couldn't take all this in one night. The fact that it was one o' clock in the morning didn't help. I'm glad we're on the roof, otherwise I don't know how I would have reacted. ******

**'California' he whispered. ******

**That's too far. Anywhere but right here is too far.**

**--**

February 1, 2008

It is 3:30 in the morning, and last night I heard the worst news that you could ever imagine. You're lucky that you're a stupid little journal that can't understand any type of emotion. You just have some notebook paper that people write on. Maybe the words seep slowly to the to the back cover of you and go into your little brain, and you think about what I'm telling you.

You just don't have a mouth to tell me what you're thinking about what I said. Well, you are going to get a lot of thoughts going to that brain of yours because Reggie is moving away, not just away, but far away; really, really far away, to California. To top it all off, his mom, "my second mom", is dying. She has cancer. I don't know what kind or how long it will be before they know if she will be okay but my grandfather had cancer, and I know his chances of living weren't that great.. I hope she doesn't have a horrible case. She probably doesn't. Maybe it's just some minor thing and she will have to take a few treatments and she will be strong and healthy again in no time.

I have to keep strong for Reggie and his mom. I don't know what I'm going to do without Reggie though. Well I have an idea, I will be writing in you or writing letters to Reggie. Crap! Who's going to do this list with me? Who's going to do the list with Reggie? Well, Reggie will have a different school, at least. Maybe there are some more non-nerd-list-maker people there. I hope so.

My side of the story is bad enough, but Reggie's side is so much worse. He has a chance of losing his mom, and he is moving away from his best friend. What if his mom does happen to pass away? What will happen to him? Foster Care? If that happens, will I even know where he's at? His dad and mom already had a divorce, and he hasn't seen his dad since the age of three. Now he might lose his mom? There are too many questions right now. I can't handle this.

Time is already passing too quickly. After this year there are only three more years of high school, then I leave this town. Why did this have to come sneaking along and push the clock forward even faster? Well, I need to go see how Reggie's doing. Sorry about the tears, they probably burn your stupid little back cover brain. Wow, I think I'm going psycho, I'm talking to something that can't even think. I guess I should get use to it.

"The journal probably doesn't like you crying on it."

"Oh, Reggie, you scared me." I attempted to compose myself. "I'm sure it will surive." I said with a weak smile.

He could tell it was fake.

"Thanks, for letting me get all of that out last night." He said, looking down at his feet as a tear slid off his cheek. He shoved his hands in his pockets.  


"I...I'm going to miss you, a lot." He sighed. "How are we going to do the list that far apart? Oh yeah, that reminds me, I was wondering if we could add something to the list."

"Sure. What is it?"

"It can be number 1, and it has to be irreplaceable like Number 11. I don't know if the nerds do it, but that doesn't matter. It's something that has to happen."

"Okay..."

He walked over and sat next to me on the bed and folded his knees up to his chest. He looked at my hands clutching my journal and asked if he could take it with his eyes. I handed it to him. He opened it up and looked at the last page.

"May I read?"

"Um..." I had to think about it. I didn't want him to see the part about him going to foster care. He probably hasn't even thought about that. He tries to be strong and keep his mind on the sunny side of any situation.

"No...Well, I mean there isn't anything I haven't told you just, please don't." I whispered.

"Okay?" He questioned.

He flipped to the list and took the pencil of my desk by my bed and started to write something.

A few minutes passed before he stopped writing and erasing over and over again.

I took it from him and read what he wrote. I noticed he added three more instead of one.

"Sorry I added more, I could have added tons more but I thought those three were the top ones."

"It's all good." I said with my eyes glued to what he said.

His handwriting stared at me and made the situation become even more real than it was before.

Number 1: Stay strong. Don't give up hope no matter what happens in the end. The tears we cried last night were the last for a while. All of this had to happen for a reason, everything does.

Number 2: We write a letter to each other every week no matter what. Two long distance phone calls every month.

Number 3: Stay no-nerds until death do us part with this world.

He drew a line between those and the others like I did with number 11 and wrote Irreplaceable 

above it.

I hugged him.

"I'm going to miss you so much. This Saturday we are still doing Number 10, promise?" It was more of a statement then a question.

"Ok." He said, blankly staring out my window.

I scooted over so I wasn't taking up so much space, slipped under my covers, and laid my head on my pillow. My dreams were the only place where I could get away from this nightmare.

--

Alexandras P.O.V

"Hey, wake up you two lovebirds" My mom sang.

We both groaned.

"Mom, how many times do I have to tell you that we are just friends? Why can't you get over the fact that I have a guy friend?"

"Yes, get it right." Reggie chimed in.

We both gave each other a look that spoke six words, "She obviously doesn't know the news."

"I'm sorry Alex, but you guys hang out to much to be 'just friends'," she said, slicing the air with quotation marks.

"Well, I am sorry to say but we are 'just friends'," Reggie said mocking my mom.

"Even if you guys are just friends, Alex, we are going to have to talk about sleeping on the same bed. That is not allowed. Do I have to repeat the talk from 8th grade?" She sighed and looked at me questioningly.

Reggie took his fingers from under his pillow, stuck them in his ears, and made very loud odd noises to block out what she was saying. He jumped off my bed and ran to only God knows where... but I am assuming it was to the kitchen.

"Mother, first of all, NO!, second of all, NO!, and third of all we are "just friends". Get that in your freaking brain already!" I yelled.

I jumped off my bed to go find Reggie.

"I knew it." I sighed while I snatched a bowl out of the cupboard.

"Knew what?" Reggie mumbled innocently through an over-sized mouthful of Cocoa Pebbles.

"You ran of to the kitchen to eat something."

"Well what was I supposed to do, sit and starve through your mom's '8th grade talk'?Honestly, sitting through the talk again with someone else's mother would nearly be enough to kill me... but while my Cocoa Pebbles call my name and my stomach grumbles back? I'm not suicidal, really Alexandra, you should know me better than that."

"Oh trust me, Reg, I do. When a person has their own cereal box at their friends house, that only he eats, and the actual owners of the cupboard with the cereal in it don't touch, I think that person would probably know the person in question a little too well."

"I hate when you call me Reg." He said before stuffing another humongous bite in his mouth.

I swear that this kid could use the table cloth as his napkin... and I have a pretty big table.

"I know." I grinned and poured some, okay... maybe a lot, of cereal in my bowl.

I am a pig. Now don't go off and start calling me a hypocrite because I'm not, I just like food, a lot, like Reggie. He just eats his in bigger bites than me. I take my time.

"So,Alexandra?"

I hate revenge.

"Yes, Reg?" I smiled sweetly with sarcasm.

"I was kind of planning on going to the mall, today, not in a year."

"We will get there, today, I just like to taste my food." I raised my  
spoon even more slowly to my mouth.

"Well, in that case, I am going to head over to my house and wait until  
your done. Your going to take so long I will probably be laying on my death bed  
waiting for you, but you will be so freakin' old that you won't be able  
to move. Goodbye, Alexandra."

"See you then, Reg." I yelled.

"What? I can't hear you? Did you say something...? Probably not, your  
still chewing your first bite. Alexandra?" I heard the door slam quickly.

He is such a little kid, but that's why I love him. I felt a pang of  


sadness hit me when I thought this and one word crossed my mind.

California.

I took another bite and started to remind myself to not cry even if I felt like  
I was trying to stop the flood of tears from coming out of a broken dam with a  
small piece of gum.

"It will be okay, It will be okay." I whispered out loud.

"What will be okay? Hey, where did Reggie go?"

No, not my mom. I made my hair block my face and stuffed my mouth with a big  
bite. I'm not ready to talk to her about this.

"Get your hair out of your face and you never answered me, what will be  
okay?"

I looked up and pointed at my mouth.

"Jeez, big enough bite? Are you starting to take eating lessons from  
Reggie or something?"

I swallowed and laughed a little. Even my mom knows him to well.

"I'm just kind of nervous for the All School Play auditions that are  
coming up." I patted myself on the back, that was a good one.

"Oh, you will be fine, you always make it. It's like Reggie's and  
your's thing. Where did he go?"

"He went home to change and all that stuff. I did tell you that we are  
going to the mall today, right?"

"Going to do a number on your list or just hanging out?"

"I guess you could say both."

Our parents know about the list but we don't tell them everything we do.  
For example, the banana thing, that would probably be a little far-fetched for  
them to handle.

"Okay, we don't have anything planned for today but I want you to be  
home for dinner."

"Cool, thanks mom!"  


I dumped my empty bowl in the sink. Hey, it only took me almost eight-ish minutes,  
Reggie would be proud.

I ran up the stairs and jumped in my room. I shut my door and the stereo blared 'We like it  
loud' by Big N' Rich.

I swear that thing knows what song to play and when. This song always puts me in  
a better mood.

"We like it loud, We like it it honkin', the party won't be revin  
till we crank it till eleven!" I danced in front of my closet while I  
picked my outfit for today.

I slapped on some jeans and my favorite plain white t's t-shirt.

I grabbed some money out of my top dresser drawer and my cellphone then walked  
out the door.

I was ready to start walking toward Reggie's house but I didn't have  
to.

He was already here.


End file.
